Confirmation, blessings and divisions

At its July 28-Aug. 8 General Convention in Minneapolis, the Episcopal Church passed more than 100 resolutions. But the confirmation of V. Gene Robinson, the Anglican Communion's first openly gay bishop, received overwhelming media attention, engulfing all else.

Robinson will succeed Douglas Theuner as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire when Theuner retires next March.

Theuner said of the vote: "It will seem like Good Friday for some of us, and it will seem like Easter Day for others of us. I pray we can remember, that in the things that really count, that in the things in which we wish to bear witness, Easter always follows Good Friday."

Robinson received a 3-2 margin in the convention's House of Deputies and a 62-43 vote in its House of Bishops.